Environmentalists Urge Bush To Resurrect Unit In Education Department

Washington--A coalition of environmental groups has asked
President-elect George Bush to give the Education Department a
leadership role in putting precollegiate environmental education "back
on the federal government's agenda."

As part of its sweeping "Blueprint for the Environment," a panel of
leaders from 18 organizations in the field has recommended that the
department re-establish an office of environmental education, at an
estimated annual cost of some $20 million, to act as a national
clearinghouse for programs designed to teach the conservation
ethic.

"We're not asking for a massive federal bureaucracy," said S.
Douglas Miller, vice president of research and education for the
National Wildlife Federation, who headed the committee's task force on
environmental education. "A lot can be done at the local level. We know
where the talent is, the talent's in the classroom."

'Presidential Leadership'

The proposal to resurrect the environmental-education office is
among 700 recommendations contained in the coalition's manifesto, which
was drafted by the leaders of such organizations as the Friends of
Earth, the Sierra Club, the Union of Concerned Scientists, and Zero
Population Growth.

Though the bulk of the recommendations concern federal energy, land,
and water-use policies, a summary states that "[t]here also is an
important role for education ... [because] citizens are not likely to
follow willingly if they do not understand and support the directions
of their leaders."

The policy statement was developed over the course of a year
specifi4cally for delivery to the new President after the November
election. According to its summary, the report represents a mandate for
action from the organizations' collective membership of 6 million
people.

The recommendations "are directed to our new President, not the
Congress, the states, or individual citizens," the document says,
because "in many areas the missing ingredient is Presidential
leadership."

Mr. Bush received a copy of the manifesto from a five-member
delegation of environmental leaders in early December. A spokesman for
the President-elect said that Mr. Bush, who has described himself as
both a ''conservationist" and an aspirant to be "the education
President," was unlikely to comment on any of the recommendations until
after his inauguration.

'Working Against Indifference'

The Education Department's re-entry into the field of environmental
education, where it was given authority by the now-defunct
Environmental Education Act of 1970, is one of 23 measures the
coalition says federal agencies should undertake to revitalize an area
of the curriculum that has largely become the responsibility of local
governments and private concerns during the Reagan years.

Federal leadership is essential, the report suggests, because
proponents of "exemplary programs" at the local level are "often
working against indifference."

When the Congress overwhelmingly approved the Environmental
Education Act in response to the fledgling national conservation
movement, the document says, "America was poised for international
leadership in this important endeavor."

But appropriations during the act's 12 years of existence never
exceeded 0 percent of recommended levels, it8adds. As a result,
"[l]ittle of the promise of the [act] has been attained," the report
concludes, while the "environmental concerns that led to [its] passage
... have worsened."

Education Is Stressed

Noting that the almost 50 million children attending elementary
schools in the 1990's will graduate from high school in the 21st
century, the document asks: "How are we preparing them to analyze and
solve the complex array of environmental problems they will
encounter?"

The Education Department, it says, should "develop environmental
curriculum prototypes [from exel10listing local programs] at every
level of education from preschool through continuing education."

Mr. Miller said that although news about such issues as global
warming, known as the "greenhouse effect," has raised the public's
awareness of environmental hazards, an extensive education program is
called for because "we need an environmentally literate citizenry" to
change conditions for the better.

'Diffused' Expertise

Establishing a clearinghouse within the department, the coalition
suggests, would enable the federal government to encourage the exchange
of information between its agencies and to provide assistance to state
and local education agencies in developing programs.

Such an office also would allow the department to assess the
development of environmental education, and to act as a "link between
the formal education community and environmental groups," the report
states.

Expertise in the environmental-education field is "diffused" among
schools, local governments, and private agencies, the report says.
"What is needed to efficiently use this talent," it maintains, "is a
source of funding for materials development, production, evaluation,
implementation, and teacher training."

Conference With Cavazos

The seven education measures the report urges include the
following:

That Secretary of Education Lauro F. Cavazos appoint a National
Advisory Council on Environmental Education to "facilitate state and
regional acceptance of national pro4grams" and encourage cooperation
between government and private endeavors. The estimated annual cost of
such a measure was put at between $500,000 and $1 million.

That the department disseminate model environmental-education
programs, including inservice and preservice programs for teachers,
developed at the state and local levels. Such a program would cost $5
million a year, the document estimates.

That the department establish a "challenge grant" program to match
state funds for hiring local environmental-education coordinators. The
estimated annual cost would be between $2 million and $2.5 million.

That Mr. Bush issue an executive order "requiring each federal
agency to develop goals and objectives for environmental education"
based on recommendations of the proposed office of environmental
education within the department.

The costs of the specific activities proposed for the Education
Department would be in addition to the $20-million budget required for
the revived office of environmental education, Mr. Miller said.

Over all, he said, the document's recommendations were made
"revenue-neutral" through proposals to levy or increase taxes and
users' fees.

"A lot can be done merely by re-allocating existing resources," he
added.

He also said that the cost estimates were the "weakest part" of the
recommendations on education because the existing data are out of
date.

Mr. Miller said that the committee's next step in advancing its
agenda will be to present its recommendations to Mr. Cavazos and begin
discussions with the department on whether the recommendations are
"feasible." He added that implementing any of the proposals will
necessarily "be a long process."

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